Home Blog Page 2736

Despite collecting N31m ransom, kidnappers refuse to release Lagos schoolboys

Kingsley OBIEJESI
-
0
Despite collecting N31m ransom, kidnappers refuse to release Lagos schoolboys

 

Six students of the Lagos State Model College, Igbonla, Epe, who were kidnapped by unknown gunmen 53 days ago, are yet to regain their freedom even after the kidnappers had collected a N31 million ransom from their parents.

According to Punch, the money was paid in two tranches of N10 million and N21 million respectively, after which the abductors claimed that the children would be released within two days. However, that has not happened.

Some parents were assigned to take the money to an undisclosed place, where they gave it to some members of the kidnap gang. They are now worried that their children have not been released exactly one week after collecting the ransom.

Some of the parents said they had to sell their property while some had to borrow in order to raise the money.

“We don’t know what else these people want. The parents are stranded,” said a source close to the development who pleaded anonymity.

“The first time, three parents met with them somewhere and gave them N10 million. They demanded another N21 million ransom. The parents took the money to the place and gave it to some gang members.

“They told the parents that they had done all the necessary things and promised to release the children in the next two days. They have been expecting the children since last week.”

One of the parents corroborated this claim, adding that the kidnappers are demanding additional N1.5 million.

He said: “We gave them N31 million cash. We didn’t send it through a third party and they confirmed the money was complete. They promised to release our children soon.

“We were confused when we heard that they demanded another N1.5m before the children could be released.”

Olarinde Famous-Cole, Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Jimoh Moshood, and the Force PRO, have continued to assure the parents that their children would soon be rescued.

The names of the six kidnapped boys are Peter Jonah, Isiaq Rahmon, Adebayo George, Judah Agbausi, Pelumi Philips and Farouq Yusuf.

Gunemen broke into their hostel around 6am on May 25, and whisked away 10 of them to a waterside.

The students were said to have been screened based on their family background, after which four of them were released while the others were taken away in a speedboat.

SERAP asks Malami to sue 21 ex-governors for ‘dubiously earning N40bn’

YEKEEN Akinwale
-
0
SERAP asks Malami to sue 21 ex-governors for ‘dubiously earning N40bn’

 

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has asked, Abubakar Malami, Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, to institute legal action on behalf of Nigerian people to recover over N40 billion dubiously earned in double payments by former Nigerian state governors who are now either senators or ministers.

SERAP made the appeal in an open letter to Malami signed by Adetokunbo Mumuni, its Executive Director, which was released on Sunday.

It alleged that the former governors and their deputies were drawing the dubious payments based on retirement and pension laws they crafted while in office.

The organisation said Malami must, within seven days of receipt of the letter, institute the legal action. It warned that it would institute legal proceedings to compel the discharge of constitutional duty and full compliance with Nigeria’s international anti-corruption obligations and commitments if the Attorney General fails to take action.

The human rights group specifically alleged that Bukola Saraki, Senate President; Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (Kano), Kabiru Gaya (Kano), Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom),Theodore Orji (Abia), Abdullahi Adamu (Nasarawa), Sam Egwu (Ebonyi), Shaaba Lafiagi (Kwara) are among former governors receiving double emoluments and large severance benefits from their states.

It listed others as Joshua Dariye (Plateau), Jonah Jang (Plateau), Ahmed Sani Yarima (Zamfara), Danjuma Goje (Gombe), Bukar Abba Ibrahim (Yobe), Adamu Aliero (Kebbi), George Akume (Benue), Ms Biodun Olujimi (Ekiti), Enyinaya Harcourt Abaribe (Abia), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Chris Ngige (Anambra) and Babatunde Fashola (Lagos).

SERAP urged Malami to use his “good offices as a defender of public interest” to urgently institute appropriate legal actions to challenge the legality of states’ laws permitting former governors, who are now senators and ministers, to enjoy governors’ emoluments while drawing normal salaries and allowances in their new political offices.

THE FULL LETTER

SERAP considers double emoluments for serving public officials unlawful, as the laws granting those benefits take governance away from the arena of public interest, and creates the impression that former governors acted contrary to the best interests of the general public. Double emoluments and large severance benefits for former governors now serving public officials constitute a blatant betrayal of public trust.”

SERAP is concerned that several serving senators and ministers are receiving salaries and life pensions running into billions of naira from states that are currently unwilling or unable to pay their workers’ salaries. Public office is a public trust, and as such, citizens depend upon their governors, senators and ministers to act in the public interest, not for their own or another’s profit or benefit.”

Under the UN Convention against Corruption to which Nigeria is a state party, it is forbidden for any public official to engage in self-dealing, and place him/herself in a position of conflicting interests, and to hold incompatible functions or illicitly engage in providing to him/herself emoluments deemed unacceptable under international law. This is a clear case of the former governors placing their private or personal interests over and above their entrusted public functions, and unduly influencing the level of benefits they receive.”

SERAP argues that taking advantage of entrusted public offices and positions to enact laws to grant double emoluments and large severance benefits to serving public officials amounts to not only an abuse of office but also incorrect, dishonourable and improper performance of public functions, as per the provisions of paragraph 2 of article 8 of the convention.”

By signing such double emoluments and large benefits laws which they knew or ought to know that they would be beneficiaries, these former governors have abused their entrusted public functions and positions, and thereby obtained an undue advantage, contrary to article 19 of the convention.”

The double emoluments and large severance benefits laws also violate the conflicts of interest provisions of the convention. The fact that these laws are signed by former governors in the exercise of their functions as public officials and now benefiting from the entitlements under such laws while serving as senators and ministers raises serious conflict of interest issue under paragraph 5 of article 8 of the convention.”

We believe that the current Code of Conduct for Public Officials Act is outdated and entirely inconsistent and incompatible with the object and purpose of the UN Convention against Corruption, which requires Nigeria to adopt a comprehensive code of conduct for the performance of public functions and implicitly to prohibit double emoluments and large severance benefits for public officials such as former governors.”

SERAP notes the resolution of the UN General Assembly to the effect that every state has the duty to carry out in good faith its obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law, and it may not invoke provisions in its constitutions or its laws as an excuse for failure to perform this duty.”

As such, your government is mandated to challenge the legality of double and large emoluments states’ laws and bring them in line with Nigeria’s international obligations including under the convention. This position is buttressed by article 27 of the Vienna Convention on the Laws of Treaties, which provides that no state can justify the noncompliance with an international treaty with reference to internal law, including even the constitution.

The UN Legislative Guide to the convention provides that where there are gabs between national laws (including constitutions) and international obligations, states must meet more onerous standards of integrity, honesty and responsibility among their public officials. SERAP is seriously concerned that conflicts of interest as well as perceptions of such conflicts undermine public confidence in the integrity and honesty of high-ranking public officials.

According to our information, those who currently receive double emoluments and large severance benefits from their states include: Dr. Bukola Saraki (Kwara); Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (Kano); Kabiru Gaya (Kano); Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom); Theodore Orji (Abia); Abdullahi Adamu (Nasarawa); Sam Egwu (Ebonyi); Shaaba Lafiagi (Kwara); Joshua Dariye (Plateau), and Jonah Jang (Plateau). Others include: Ahmed Sani Yarima (Zamfara); Danjuma Goje (Gombe); Bukar Abba Ibrahim (Yobe); Adamu Aliero (Kebbi); George Akume (Benue); Ms Biodun Olujimi (Ekiti); Enyinaya Harcourt Abaribe (Abia); Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti); Chris Ngige (Anambra); and Babatunde Fashola (Lagos).”

SERAP notes that under the Lagos Pension Law a former governor will enjoy the following benefits for life: Two houses, one in Lagos and another in Abuja estimated to cost between N500m and N700m. Others are six brand new cars replaceable every three years; furniture allowance of 300 percent of annual salary to be paid every two years, and a close to N2.5m as pension (about N30m pension annually); free medicals including for his immediate families; 10 percent house maintenance; 30 percent car maintenance; 10 percent entertainment; 20 percent utility; and several domestic staff.”

In Rivers, state law provides 100 percent of annual basic salaries for ex-governor and deputy, one residential house for former governor anywhere of his choice in Nigeria; one residential house anywhere in Rivers for the deputy, three cars for the ex-governor every four years; two cars for the deputy every four years; 300 percent of annual basic salary every four years for furniture; 10 percent of annual basic salary for house maintenance.”

In Akwa Ibom, state law provides for N200m annual pay to ex governors, deputies; pension for life at a rate equivalent to the salary of the incumbent governor/deputy governor respectively; a new official car and utility-vehicle every four years; one personal aide and provision of adequate security; a cook, chauffeurs and security guards for the governor at a sum not exceeding N5m per month and N2.5m for the deputy governor. Others are: free medical services for governor and spouse at an amount not exceeding N100m for the governor per annum and N50m for the deputy governor; a five-bedroom mansion in Abuja and Akwa Ibom and allowance of 300 percent of annual basic salary for the deputy governor; 300 percent of annual basic salary every four years and severance gratuity.”

Similarly, the Kano State Pension Rights of Governor and Deputy Governor Law 2007 provides for 100 percent of annual basic salaries for former governor and deputy; furnished and equipped office; a 6-bedroom house; well-furnished 4-bedroom for deputy, plus an office; free medical treatment along with immediate families within and outside Nigeria where necessary; two drivers; and a provision for a 30- day vacation within and outside Nigeria.

In Gombe State, there is N300 million executive pension benefits for the ex-governors. In Kwara State, the 2010 law gives a former governor two cars and a security car replaceable every three years; a well-furnished 5-bedroom duplex; 300 per cent of his salary as furniture allowance; five personal staff; three State Security Services; free medical care for the governor and the deputy; 30 percent of salary for car maintenance; 20 per cent for utility; 10 percent for entertainment; 10 per cent for house maintenance.”

In Zamfara State, former governors receive pension for life; two personal staff; two vehicles replaceable every four years; two drivers, free medical for the former governors and deputies and their immediate families in Nigeria or abroad; a 4-bedroom house in Zamfara and an office; free telephone and 30 days paid vacation outside Nigeria. In Sokoto State, former governors and deputy governors are to receive N200m and N180m respectively being monetization for other entitlements which include domestic aides, residence and vehicles that could be renewed after every four years.”

10-year-old boy set up by Boko Haram dies of bomb explosion

YEKEEN Akinwale
-
0
10-year-old boy set up by Boko Haram dies of bomb explosion

 

A 10-year-old boy has been killed in Borno State after the explosion of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) strapped on him by Boko Haram insurgents.

According to a statement issued by Victor Isuku, Borno State Police Public Relations Officer, the incident occurred on Saturday.

Isuku, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), said at about 10:00am on Saturday, two Fulani boys, Gambo Bukar and Umar Bukar, aged 10 and 8 years old respectively, from Dalti village in Jere Local Government Area, the outskirt of Maiduguri, went out for grazing at Baram and Tamsongamdu villages in Mafa LGA.

He said the boys, while going about their business, came in contact with Boko Haram terrorists who strapped Gambo Bukar with an IED vest and set both of them free.

“When the boys returned home at about 4:00 pm, they failed to disclose their encounter with the terrorists and in the process of unstrapping the vest, the IED exploded, killing Gambo Bukar alone, while Umar Bukar sustained injuries and was immediately hospitalised,” he said.

“The scene was, however, visited by the Police EOD team who rendered the area safe.”

US seizes $144m assets owned by Allison-Madueke, two ‘Nigerian oil men’

Kingsley OBIEJESI
-
0
US seizes $144m assets owned by Allison-Madueke, two ‘Nigerian oil men’

 

US prosecutors have concluded plans to confiscate $144m worth of assets, including a 200-foot yacht belonging to Diezani Allison-Madueke, former Minister of Petroleum resources and two other Nigerian “oil men”.

According to the US-based newspaper, Financial Times, the seized property are believed to be proceeds of an “international bribery scheme that involved (Allison-Madueke), the then-president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC”.

According the report, a forfeiture complaint has already been filed at the US justice department, alleging that between 2011 and 2015, the two men, “Kolawole Aluko and Olajide Omokore … conspired with others to bribe Alison-Madueke in order to win oil production contracts worth $1.5 billion”.

After the contracts had been awarded to Shell, represented by Aluko and Omokore,  Alison-Madueke was allegedly rewarded with a “lavish lifestyle”.

“The two businessmen allegedly purchased millions of dollars worth of property in and near London for the oil minister and her family and then furnished the homes with furniture, artwork and other luxury items from Houston-area stores that she fancied,” the report read.

“In January 2011, the Nigerian businessmen and unidentified co-conspirators bought a Buckinghamshire home known as “The Falls” for £3.25m.

“Two months later, as Mr Aluko was meeting with Nigerian oil officials to discuss a contract, he arranged to buy two properties near London’s Regent Parks: a £1.7m home at 39 Chester Close and 58 Harley House on the Marylebone Road for £2.8m.

“The first property, upgraded with an elevator and new stone flooring and countertops, was intended for the use of Ms Alison-Madueke’s mother and her son.

“The men that month also purchased a £3.7m flat at 83-86 Prince Albert Road for the oil minister.

“Ms Alison-Madueke appears to have favoured furniture stores in the Houston area, which she patronised on periodic visits to the US oil industry capital.

“On a single day in May 2012, Mr Aluko wired $461,500 from a Swiss bank account to one furniture store and spent an additional $262,091 at a second on the oil minister’s behalf.”

The justice department also targeted to confiscate Aluko’s luxury yatch “Galactica Star”, which its builder bills as the “world’s largest fast displacement yacht”, as well as “condominium units in Manhattan and real estate in Southern California located just three miles from the Pacific Ocean”.

Kenneth Blanco, Acting Assistant Attorney General, said of the investigations: “The United States is not a safe haven for the proceeds of corruption.

“If illicit funds are within the reach of the United States, we will seek to forfeit them and to return them to the victims from whom they were stolen.”

According to the report, Aluko, who was known as “a small-time (oil) trader”, was earning an average of $500,000 annually, but between 2011 and 2015, “he had purchased more than $87 million of US property and the $82 million yacht.”

In a recorded tape obtained by prosecutors, Alison-Madueke had chided Aluko not apparently for his lavish spending but for doing so when he knew all eyes were on them.

“If you want to hire a yacht, you lease it for two weeks or whatever,” she was quoted as saying in the tape. “You don’t go and sink funds into it at this time when Nigerian oil and gas sector is under all kinds of watch.”

The case was brought as part of the US department of Justice’s kleptocracy asset recovery initiative.

Prosecutors say Aluko’s last known address was in Porza-Lugano, Switzerland, while Omokore is described as a resident of Lagos.

9Mobile woos ‘Etisalat’ subscribers with 15 minutes of free call

Editorial
-
0
9Mobile woos ‘Etisalat’ subscribers with 15 minutes of free call

 

Since relinquishing its brand name Etisalat Nigeria on Thursday, 9Mobile has been wooing its customers — with 15 minutes of free airtime that can be retained for up to seven days.

A $1.2 billion debt crisis incapacitated the telco, leading to its takeover by a consortium of financial institutions and withdrawal of the Mubadala Group, the highest investor in the company.

Mubadala, an Abu Dhabi-owned company, and Etisalat UAE mobile controlled 70 percent of the equity holding in Etisalat Nigeria, while Emerging Markets Telecommunications Services (EMTS), headed by Hakeem Bello-Osagie, former Chairman of the United Bank for Africa (UBA), controls the remaining 30 per cent.

In June, Hakeem Belo-Osagie resigned this position as Chairman of Etisalat Nigeria, following the restructuring of the telecommunication company, to pave the way for the emergence of Joseph Nnana, a Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Boye Olusanya, former Deputy Managing Director of Celtel Nigeria (now Airtel Nigeria) stepped in as Chief Executive Officer of Etisalat Nigeria in place of Matthew Willsher, who left the position along with Olawole Obasunloye, the Chief Financial Officer.

Worried that uncertainty about its future could trigger an exodus of subscribers, 9Mobile instantly responded with a too-hard-to-resist promo.

“Hello, you have been granted 15mins free to call all Etisalat numbers. Valid for seven days,” read the message, which it began circulating to subscribers on Friday and continued on Saturday.

Five 9Mobile subscribers confirmed to have received the text message from “Etisalat”, the first receiving it at 11:42am on Friday, and the last 5:48am on Saturday.

 

In pulling out of Etisalat Nigeria, Hatem Dowidar, Chief Executive of Etisalat International, had said the group would no longer have anything to do with Etisalat Nigeria.

He gave the company a three-week ultimatum to change its name, adding: “There’s a new board and we are not part of that company. We have sent our termination letter for the management agreement.”

 

Osinbajo: My wife watches over me… she’s my gift from God

iCiR
-
0
Osinbajo: My wife watches over me… she’s my gift from God

 

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has described his wife, Dolapo, as his “gift from God” who watches over him.

Osinbajo made the comment in a tweet on Saturday to celebrate his wife’s 50th birthday.

“My gift from God, watching over me, my support, at my side, my wings, my wife,” he wrote. “Happy Birthday Oludolapo. You are my treasure.”

Earlier, his wife had displayed a midnight cake to her by her husband, accompanying it with a caption: “Thanking God for 50 years of His grace.”

Obasanjo: Nobody should call me Mathew again – he was a tax collector

Kingsley OBIEJESI
-
0
Obasanjo: Nobody should call me Mathew again – he was a tax collector

 

Olusegun Obasanjo, former President, says he no longer wants to be addressed by the name ‘Mathew’, even though it was given to him by his parents.

Obasanjo said he was jettisoning the name because the Biblical character, Mathew, whom he was named after, was a tax collector.

“People ask, what is in a name? For me, there is so much in a name,” he said.

“When I was born, my mother and father decided to name me Matthew. I grew up being called and addressed Matthew. What is the meaning of Matthew in The Bible? He was a tax collector.

“So, when I grew up, I dropped Matthew from my name. If anyone does not want to see my eyes red, no one should call me Matthew again.”

Obasanjo was speaking at an event organised by the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) to mark his 80th birthday in Abuja on Friday. His birthday was on March 5.

He urged the engineers to be diligent and to always strive for perfection as their profession gives no room for imperfection.

“A doctor’s mistake often leads to the death of one patient,” he said.

“A lawyer’s mistake leads to the client going to jail. But if an engineer makes a mistake that leads to the collapse of a bridge or house, many people would lose their lives.

“That is why engineers must be very careful and must be efficient not to allow mistakes to be made,.”

Also speaking at the event, Otis Anyaeji, National President of the NSE, eulogized Obasanjo for his commitment to the growth and development of Nigerian engineers.

“I wish to mention that Obasanjo initiated the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) in 2005 and directed by policy that Nigerian engineering firms must get at least 25 per cent of each project scope,” Anyaeji said.

“That was how out of 120 engineering firms that participated in NIPP, 83 of them were Nigerian.”

The 1999 constitution is a fraudulent document made by the north, says Ayo Adebanjo

Kingsley OBIEJESI
-
0
The 1999 constitution is a fraudulent document made by the north, says Ayo Adebanjo

 

Ayo Adebanjo, elder statesman and chieftain of Afenifere, a Yoruba socio-political organisation, says the 1999 constitution is a fraudulent document that was foisted on the country by a North-dominated military regime.

In an interview published on Saturday by Reuben Abati, former spokesman to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Adebanjo said the term ‘restructuring’ would not have come up had the military not intervened in the politics of Nigeria through coups.

He warned that the time to return to true federalism is now, else Nigeria may cease to exist.

“Of course, without restructuring, there might be no Nigeria; It’s as clear as that,” Adebanjo said.

“I often say that the word restructuring came into our political lexicon after the military coup. Why? When the military came, they suspended the constitution and then created a one-line government.

“In 1993, Abacha made that fraudulent document (constitution); he died and Abdulsalami Abubakar sustained it, which was handed over to Obasanjo in 1999. Yet they are saying we have to live together on the constitution made by the North.

“When the military was there, it was dominated by the North and they made the document. The constitution we are having now is a fraudulent document. How? Did we make it? No. Are we federal? No. That is why we say let us decide how to live together.”

Adebanjo said that it is false to insinuate that anybody who supports restructuring wants the country to separate. On the contrary, “anybody opposed to restructuring is the enemy of the unity of Nigeria,” he said.

On why he thinks former President Olusegun Obasanjo did not amend the constitution during his time in office, Adebanjo said: “He (Obasanjo) is one of those who caused trouble in this country. He only believed in himself, and he doesn’t believe in others. Anything that does not favour Obasanjo, he won’t partake in it.

“If he’s a patriotic Nigerian, he was in the best position to solve the problems of this country, but the military wanted him to cover their tracks, which they are still covering till now.

“The military is still dominating us, all because of the many things they have done. They want somebody to cover it and that was why they brought Obasanjo from the prison to cover their tracks.

“That was why he said all the enquiries made against Babangida, he couldn’t find the record even though the news said he had the record. He covered that track.”

Adebanjo added that if the calls for restructuring of Nigeria ware not heeded before the 2019 general election, then “it means the government doesn’t want the country to stay together”.

Is Nigeria on the brink of another civil war?

'Fisayo Soyombo
-
1
Is Nigeria on the brink of another civil war?

 

On August 1, 1966, after the collapse of last-ditch attempts by Nigeria’s power brokers to prevent the impending Civil War, Lieutenant-Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu, the man who would later declare Biafra a secessionist state, said only one thing would make the rebels cease fire: “that the Republic of Nigeria be split into its component parts; and all southerners in the North be repatriated to the South and that northerners resident in the South be repatriated to the North”.

Of course, Ojukwu and the rebelling easterners didn’t get their wish. On May 30, 1967, Oxford-educated Ojukwu declared Biafra an independent state in the southeast of the country. And on July 6, 1967, civil war broke out in Nigeria, claiming more than a million lives in just three years.

Fast-forward to June 2017. Irked by renewed secessionist calls from the same Igbo ethnic group, a coalition of northern groups served a notice for “all Igbo currently residing in any part of Northern Nigeria to relocate within three months and all northerners residing in the East are advised likewise”.

Although made 51 years apart, those two statements are strikingly similar. Since the first was made during a war, there is real reason to worry that the second could prompt another. Last week’s commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Civil War offered a platform for Nigerians to review the ills of war but instead, the voices of secession raged even louder.

SECESSIONIST MOVEMENT AN INDICTMENT OF PAST LEADERSHIP

The resurrection of the clamour for secession five decades from the war is simply the result of serial leadership failure. When the war ended in 1970, Yakubu Gowon, then Head of State, promised to “build a nation, great in justice, fair trade, and industry”. But he and his successors didn’t.

Although there is no evidence of efforts to specifically ignore the Igbo, generations of corrupt and selfish leaders have entered and vacated office with no painstaking plan to rebuild the East from the ruins of war (same for insurgency-ravaged North-East), instead filling their pockets with public funds while ignoring a disenchanted youth population.

Now, the Igbo percentage of that population will do anything to actualise Biafra, including sacrificing their lives, as already demonstrated by more than 150 of them between August 2015 and August 2016. The series of military crackdowns on pro-Biafra agitators is another grave error by the authorities; it has spawned clusters of bellicose Igbo youth who want to avenge their brothers’ deaths. Anyone who has physically met Nnamdi Kanu’s apostles, or read their viperous online comments, will admit that quite a number of them are seething with rage that can only be thawed by the highest level of tact from the government.

The absence of that kind of tact is arguably the reason for the escalation of the Biafra agitation in the last two years. After all, Kanu, the face of the agitation, was little-known until October 2015 when the Muhammadu Buhari government arrested him, and subsequently disobeyed court orders granting him bail. That unconditional detention meant Kanu exchanged his freedom for underserving martyrdom; now, what should have been an intelligent agitation for secession has been entrusted to a man whose message is primarily driven by emotion and aggression.

‘NIGERIA’S UNITY IS NON-NEGOTIABLE’

Buhari has said it a few times, and his Vice — now Acting President — has reiterated it: Nigeria’s unity is not negotiable. This is not the way to go.

The superficial argument is that the Nigerian Constitution is unequivocal in its exclusion of secession when it states in Section 2(1): Nigeria is one indivisible and indissoluble sovereign state to be known by the name of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

But Biafra is not a fresh secessionist move; it is a 50-year-old idea. And — regardless of the grave shortcomings of the current proponent — a 50-year-old movement cannot be dispelled with a wave of the hand or by locking up the proponent or brandishing the Constitution. The Nigerian government must work out a mathematical answer.

THE BIAFRA QUESTION DESERVES A REFERENDUM

In its ninth section, the same Constitution provides for dialogue on the possibility of amending Nigeria’s indissolubility. But for this amendment to happen, not less than two-thirds majority of state and federal lawmakers must support the move. So, instead of saying an outright no to Biafra, Buhari and Osinbajo should remind the agitators of what they must do: lobby the legislature. Everyone knows the success rate is negligible, if not nil, but good luck to them if they succeed.

Importantly and urgently, Nigeria needs a referendum. There is palpable public frustration with a governance structure that allocates lion share of the country’s earnings to the federal government while leaving states to scramble for crumbs. A referendum on the preferred system of internal governance is crucial, even though recent calls for fiscal federalism have come from politicians who are more interested in cornering the nation’s wealth than redistributing it for common good.

Now is the time to take the decision to the public court. James Madison, the fourth President of the United States, may have popularly argued that direct democracy is the “tyranny of the majority”, but there’s no other option for a Nigerian state where the tyranny of the ruling minority is monumental.

Neither history nor currency is on the side of Biafra. Only two secessionist movements have ever succeeded in Africa: Eritrea from Ethiopia after 30 years of war, and South Sudan from Sudan in 2011 after 22 years of war — the latter still as war-torn as the pre-2011 Sudan. Herein lies the lesson for Biafra agitators: secession from Nigeria will not solve their ache unless accompanied by conscientious leadership.

Nigeria, meanwhile, must go back 50 years to draw its own lessons: wars build from agitations like this. If the south-easterners don’t want to stay, let them go. Fragmentation is a million times better than the devastation of war.

This piece was first published by Al Jazeera.

Nigeria’s cybersecurity: FBI, Kaspersky halt this nonsense and make some sense

Editorial
-
0
Nigeria’s cybersecurity: FBI, Kaspersky halt this nonsense and make some sense

 

By Timil Olagunju

This week, I had the privilege of making a presentation on Cybersecurity and Trust as a resource person in the area of cyberspace law at the recently concluded Nigeria Internet Governance Forum (NIGF) in Kaduna. You could check up discussions and action-plans on www.nigf.org.ng.

Afterward, I travelled for a speaking engagement at Ahmadu Bello University, and in my hotel room at the Senior Staff club, I remember stumbling on an article published by the Nigeria Communications Week (https://goo.gl/2irvPe), about Kaspersky suggesting that Nigerians have massively carried out successful attacks on the cyberspace of global corporations (not individuals this time); and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) estimates such at $3,000,000,000 (three billion dollars). Kaspersky further stated that the number of affected companies exceeds 22,143, in at least 50 countries.

But the question is, how did Kaspersky arrive at tracing it to Nigeria? In my finding, I discovered that it was through tracing Internet Protocol (IP) address. Now, the question is, could it be foreign nationals with advanced knowledge, that used the accommodating, faintly regulated, and porous Nigerian cyberspace to perpetuate this act? Of a truth, these days, even hackers use the dark web, to hack as children, family members, talk-less of advanced hacking of global corporations? Or is the usual blame game, since Nigeria has been identified as the ‘yahoo yahoo’ zone, using the cyberspace to dupe individuals? Making it is easier to pin this huge ‘cyber-heist’ of corporations on Nigeria.

In the words of Basil Udotai, a former Director of Cybersecurity, office of the National Security Adviser and Managing Partner, Technology Advisors, “kaspersky as an outstanding internet security company should remember always that attribution often goes beyond the first origination the tools pick up. $3b stolen by Nigerian hackers? Or international hackers bouncing off Nigerian networks! But who is to authoritatively challenge this incident statistics as WRONGLY attributed to Nigeria?”

Of a truth, I perfectly share same position, necessitating the need for me to address these accusations from a solution stand-point.

Well, some have argued that Kaspersky is trying to do business, no one can fault them on that, but leveraging on the reputation of our country is wrong, especially if the statistics are debatable. Kaspersky can say what it likes, but my question is “who is countering their facts with internally and locally generated evidence to the contrary? Who is driving our cyber-narrative as a nation? If you say well, our cyber-narrative is not important, then learn from the experience of an honest and hardworking Nigerian who was stigmatized in another country for being a Nigerian, only because such foreign national hears of Nigeria as home to “cyber-fraudsters”.

In these circumstances, Karsperky better check their facts right! How can a country, with hardly or no free anonymous proxy server, and pathetic electricity supply pull such global heist (beyond mere individual fraud) at the level of three billion dollars (approximately N6, 300, 000, 000, 000). With the state of electricity shortage (and outage) in Nigeria, isn’t it impossible for individual servers to be up and running 24 hours in 7 days for such heist? Again, I ask Kasperky, how can a Nigerian hacker maintain the consistent connectivity that is required to perform time demanding and rigorous hack activities at that level on such scale of six trillion and three hundred billion naira?

Maybe Kasperky needs be reminded, that there are hardly broadband internet connectivity available anywhere in Nigeria. Internet connectivity is mostly via mobile operator’s wireless GPRS data transfers, which has usually very slow data transfer ability. And to add fire to the coal, how many advanced hackers at that level can Nigerians boast of, for such organized and consistent large scale online hacking of corporations to be successful? If kaspersky had said, “Nigerians ‘tried’ hacking global corporations in 50 countries, then we might put the matter to rest, but to further claim, Nigerians did not only ‘try’ but succeeded, sounds more like a convenient way of ‘calling kettle black’.

Someone once argued that the so called “Nigerian hackers” are actually North Korean hackers – and its part of how they fund the North Korean economy, because Nigerian cyberspace is porous and we are a populous nation with a track record of cyberfraud; real or imagined. Well, whether Nigerian or North Korean (or even Chinese or Indian) hackers are involved, it is a known fact that Nigerian hackers lack the connectivity capabilities to operate the shady dark web. Even if broadband internet connectivity is sufficiently available for Nigeria, the dark web clearing house would be impossible for potential hackers.

These are key issues kaspersky needs to look, because such wide and untamed assumptions based on shallow testing, are ethically unacceptable. But also, it’s important for Nigeria to put her house in order – as a Nigerian proverb says “the way you call your calabash is what others will call it for you”.

Therefore, instead of agonizing over the problem of possibly false labeling of my beloved country, her people and cyberspace, I will proffer a simple solution.  In addition to securing our cyberspace, I recommend a concrete “Cybersecurity Media Team” (not committee — I regularly joke that committees mostly commit to drinking Nigeria’s national tea). The Presidency’s “Cybersecurity Media Team (CMT)” should be made up of cybersecurity advocates and media practitioners, working closely with the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) and the National Orientation Agency (NOA), as well as a various ministries; a multi-stakeholder approach to verifying and sharing information about facts and figures on the Nigerian cyberspace, and helping produce what I refer to as a “Nigerian Cybersecurity Index (CSI)”, involving copious research on locally generated facts and figures about the Nigerian cyberspace. The “Nigerian Cybersecurity Index (CSI)” will help shape policy and technical direction to meet localized cybersecurity needs based on evidence, (and not assumptions or imported data), as well as tackle presumptuously exaggerated positions, which smear the image of our beloved Nigeria, and undermines efforts towards re-branding and attracting foreign investment.

READ ALSO:

Olagunju is a cyberspace lawyer, with specialization in providing training, legal, and business support for start-ups, institutions, and policy makers.

Twitter: @timithelaw                                                             Email: timithelaw@gmail.com

1...2,7352,7362,737...3,439Page 2,736 of 3,439